


Strings

by g_girl143



Series: #wickedlywonderfulweekofreylo [3]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: BenRey - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Gen, Implied Master/Padawan Relationship(s), In which Rey and Ben are Padawans in Luke's Jedi Academy, Jedi Academy AU, One Shot Spinoff from What She's Worth, Padawan, ReyBen, Reylo - Freeform, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, luke's jedi academy, wickedlywonderfulweekofreylo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:13:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7159085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/g_girl143/pseuds/g_girl143
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben and Rey clean up a storage room in Luke's Jedi Academy and find a little treasure. Fluff, fluff and more fluff.</p><p>A one-shot spin off of "What She's Worth" but can be read as a stand-alone fic.</p><p>Part of the Reylo fic challenge #wickedlywonderfulweekofreylo Day 4: Guitar Pick</p><p>co-authored with my husband "Jamaeda" since I used one of his written works here.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strings

**Author's Note:**

> As with the previous prompts, I like to think outside the box, but it was a bit difficult to disassociate the fic prompt "Guitar Pick" with rockbands and singers. Thankfully, my husband gave me this wonderful idea of doing this spin off from my fic "What She's Worth", and that's what you have here. You don't have to read "What She's Worth" though to understand the context and the universe of this fic, although it would be nice as well if you go and read that one too if you haven't yet :)

Ben opened the wooden doors of the Jedi Academy’s storage room, coughing as dust flew in every direction. On instinct, he reached down to cover Rey’s face with a palm to ensure she doesn’t inhale much of it.

She still ended up coughing though, her childish sputters so endearing, he had to stifle a chuckle.

“I told you it was dirty and dusty here,” he reminded her gently and knelt down to her eye level to pat the dust off her robes. “You don’t have to be here, you know. Major chores like these are for padawans, not younglings.”

“But I’m the only youngling,” Rey reminded him back, puffing her cheeks up to show her indignation. He smirked and reached out with both palms to squish the air out of her cheeks. “Pffffft—hey!”

“Sorry, couldn’t help it.” Ben laughed, then reached into his pocket for a couple of scarves. “Alright. If you’re going to insist on cleaning up with me, you have to put this over your face.”

By that of course, he meant he would be the one to put it over her face for her. She was still a little clumsy with her fingers. But then again, he really couldn’t expect a five-year-old to be perfectly coordinated with her movements.

After securing the knot of the scarf beneath one of her hair buns and tying his own scarf over the lower half of his face, he rose to his feet and grabbed a broom while Rey took a dustpan, hands tight around its long handle. “Okay, Rey. You ready to get to work?”

“Yup!” She nodded empathically, and proceeded to follow Ben around the spacious room, scooping up the dust in the pan wherever he swept before scurrying over to the dust bin.

They continued to do this for several more minutes until Ben was sufficiently satisfied. “This isn’t over yet. We still have to mop the place.”

Nodding with the same enthusiasm as before, Rey raced to the corner of the room where they had left the mop and the bucket of water. She was about to take the bucket in her arms when Ben shot out a palm, lifted the bucket with the Force and levitated it to his side.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” Rey fumed, hazel eyes flashing as she dragged the mop towards him. “Master Luke said we’re not supposed to use the Force when we’re doing our chores. You’re being lazy.”

“No, I’m not.” Ben grinned beneath his scarf and took the mop from her hands, dunking the head into the bucket. “I just didn’t want you to be carrying this thing around. It’s heavy you know. Try lifting it if you don’t believe me.”

She did, and he had to roll his eyes at her. Why couldn’t she just take his word for it?

“Fine,” she admitted, backing away from the bucket, though he could tell that she was still frowning behind the scarf. “What should I do in the meantime?”

“See that box at the bottom shelf?” He pointed at one corner of the room. “Open it, see if anything can be thrown away or salvaged for something around the academy.”

“How do I know which ones to throw away?”

“Well...” Ben did one sweep of the floor with the mop and turned to wink at her. “You could use the Force.”

“That’s not how the Force works.” Rey balled her hands into tiny fists and planted them on her hips, head tilted to one side and brows furrowed in annoyance. This time, Ben couldn’t help but laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” He wiped a tear then reached down to pat her on the head. She was just so endearing, this little girl. “Now, go do what I told you to. Just show me whatever you find, and I’ll let you know if it needs to be thrown away or not.”

Rey nodded and ambled towards the box, pulling it out from the shelf. Ben watched her for a while before resuming the task of mopping the floor, stopping only whenever Rey inquired about an item.

“This one?”

“Throw it.”

She put it in the trash bin she had dragged beside her.

“This one?”

“I think we can still use that.”

She set it aside, probably for sorting later. Good call, Ben thought.

“And this one?”

“Keep it.”

He listened keenly as he mopped, waiting for her to ask again but only heard some shuffling. Maybe she had gotten to the bottom of the box...

“Oooooh!”

“Rey?” He turned, and saw her take out a small, string instrument—well, small by his standards—and held it up for him to see. It wasn’t until he walked over to her side that he realized what it was, and it made his heart twinge. “That’s...a Corellian musical instrument.”

Rey blinked at him. “So...it plays music?”

“Yeah...” Ben’s eyes moved over the instrument—from its curved wooden body, short fret board, five golden strings and its large sound hole—his mind suddenly washed with memories of strong, callused hands strumming away a familiar tune, and a deep voice rendering an over-the-top performance or two.

He bit his lip and looked away. Maybe volunteering for this chore hadn’t been such a good idea. He was about to tell Rey to put it in the trash when she started shaking the instrument, a jiggling noise echoing through the room.

“There’s something inside it.” She jiggled it some more until a small, triangular object fell out of the sound hole and on to the floor. She promptly picked it up. “Ooooh...it sparkles! What is it Ben?”

“That’s just a pick.” Ben sighed. No use trying to sway Rey from anything once she had her attention on something. “You use it to pluck the strings.” He took the pick from her and ran it against the strings. “See?”

“Do you know how to play it?”

The question gave Ben a pause. A lie threatened to escape his lips, and he had to remind himself that he had promised to be honest with her about everything. “I...do know one song...”

She practically jumped up and thrust the instrument in his hands. “Play it for me!”

Kriff. He knew this was going to happen. “I don’t know Rey...it’s been so long.”

“Please?”

He stared at her then. She had pulled down her scarf, allowing him full view of her trembling lips. That, paired with bright and eager hazel eyes was enough to make him lower his shoulders in defeat.

“Fine.” He pulled down his own scarf and positioned his hands over the instrument, tweaking and testing the strings to make sure they were in tune. “I’m not the best singer, so you have to promise not to laugh.”

“I promise,” she swore and sat back on her knees, face practically aglow with anticipation.

Ben took a deep breath, closed his eyes, then began.

_There was an empty space inside my heart_  
_A void that couldn't be filled_  
_A vacant place awaiting someone to come along_  
_And provide that missing puzzle piece_

He saw himself as a little boy, perking up at the melody drifting from downstairs. Saw himself carefully sliding off the bed, one hand still grasping a toy X-wing as he made his way out of the bedroom and towards the stairs.

_I remember that day you sauntered in_  
_There's a connection we cannot deny,_  
_There was an instant link we can't sever,_  
_No matter what we did, no matter what we tried._

He took the stairs, one step at a time, fluffy slippers cushioning every step he made, toy still held tightly, his other hand balancing himself with the banister, music still ringing pleasantly in his ears.

_Suddenly everything made sense in my life,_  
_Suddenly everything fit into place_  
_My future began to move ahead again,_  
_All this just because you appeared._

He ran as fast as his little feet could carry him, and reached the kitchen just in time to see Han Solo, strumming the Corellian string and singing away the song’s final verse, his father’s eyes fixated on Leia, who gazed back at her husband with all the love in the world.

_Now here we are, together forever,_  
_Not totally perfect, but there ain't nothing we can't do._  
_We've been through close shaves and through hell and back,_  
_And babe, I couldn't have survived them without you._

Ben plucked the song’s final tune, the last note echoing through his memories before reverberating through the storage room, bringing him back to the present.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at Rey. She was eerily still, with an expression he couldn’t quite define, and he felt his face grow hot with sudden embarrassment.

“Sorry,” he muttered, putting the instrument down. “I told you I’m not a very good singer...”

“Beautiful...”

“Huh?” He looked up at her again. Did he hear her right?

“That was beautiful, Ben,” Rey repeated, her voice barely above a whisper and so full of feeling that Ben could feel his face grow an even deeper shade of red. “And you sang it so beautifully.”

“Well, we both know I didn’t, but I’m glad you think so.” He let out a laugh. He wasn’t sure it was because of the nerves or if it was because of the memories evoked by that song. “Anyway, we need to get back to work. We still have a lot of stuff to clean here—”

Rey’s small hand was quickly on his. “Can you play it for me one more time?”

“Rey...”

“Please?”

He moved his gaze over her again. To her smiling, pleading face, and found himself looking back at his five-year-old self, fingers curled over the edges of Han Solo’s leather jacket.

_“Play it again, Daddy! Please?”_

_“But you’ve heard this a thousand times.”_

_“I don’t care. I like it. It’s beautiful.”_

_“Okay, kiddo. Just one more time.”_

Ben smiled and reached out to pat Rey on the head, in much the same way Han did right before he played the song for him again.

“Okay, kiddo.” Ben positioned his hands over the instrument again. “Just one more time.”

**Author's Note:**

> The song is actually a poem my husband wrote for me a long time ago :) He is a very talented poet! The poem is titled "Half of my Heart" http://deuxmaxima.deviantart.com/art/Half-of-my-heart-284916246
> 
> You can find his other poems here: http://deuxmaxima.deviantart.com/gallery/
> 
> FYI There's no such thing as Corellian Strings. I made that up coz I couldn't find anything similar. Just imagine it as a Space Ukelele XD


End file.
